Dick Gregory: Spike lee is a 'punk, 'thug'

Legendary social activist, comedian and author, Dick Gregory, has weighed in
on the controversial Quentin Tarantino film, "Django Unchained," and he did so
in explosive fashion.

In an interview posted to YouTube, Gregory says that the movie spoke to him
in ways that no film had in all his years on earth. He then calls out Director
Spike Lee for criticizing a film that he's never seen, saying that if anyone
has created movies that are disrespectful to our ancestors, it's Lee himself:

"I've seen 'Django Unchained' 12 times. Never in the history of Hollywood,
have they ever made anything that freed the inside of me. The inside of me. I'm
80-yearsold, I saw cowboy movies, wasn't no black folks in cowboy movies. I'm
looking at a western, plus a love story. To those of you all that see it, you'll
never see a love story about a black man and a black woman where it wasn't some
foul sex and foul language, huh. And Spike Lee can't appreciate that. The little
thug ain't even seen the movie; he's acting like he white.

"So it must be something personal. And all them black entertainers that know
Spike Lee, how you gone attack this man and don't be attacking them? and then
say everyone's a fool but me. (Talking about) 'it offended my ancestors,' but
when you did 'She's Got To Have It' and some of those other thug movies you did?
you took Malcolm X and put a Zoot suit on him?did that offend your ancestors,
punk?

"It's a game, man. So whatever he's mad about is something that happened way,
way a long ago. Thank God it didn't work (to stop the movie from being
successful)."

When the interviewer asks Gregory if he has a problem with Tarantino's
excessive use of the word "n*gger," he said that he absolutely did not and that
no other culture insists on the white-washing of their painful past in this
country like black people:

"We talking about history, man. It happened. Nigger happened."

Gregory goes on to talk about the history of "the dozens," slave rebellion
and racism in Hollywood.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you. Click here.